Sponsorship call!

Sponsor a Knitter – Support a livelihood

You could help a struggling community help itself, stitch by stitch! Cambodia Knits is hoping to find sponsors to support knitters-to-be through a three-week basic knitting training period.

Starting October 19, 2009, Cambodia Knits will be training members of the community at Toul Sambo, Cambodia. Once trained, participants will have the skills — and guaranteed employment — to earn an income and support their families. That means your one-time support will launch a livelihood for years to come.

Who you’re sponsoring

Toul Sambo is located 25 kilometres outside of Phnom Penh, where there’s little access to employment opportunities. The families living here were recently relocated from Phnom Penh and due to the high prevalence of HIV infection among the community, it has received the unfortunate nickname of “the AIDS village”. This relocation made international news and was widely condemned. The stigma of living in the green metal sheds that make up the relocation site, further marginalizes the people there. We hope that through training and gainful employment, Toul Sambo community members can overcome these recent struggles and work towards a brighter future. 33 community members are interested in taking part and we don’t want to deny any of them the opportunity.

How it works

Cambodia Knits is offering training in the community to anyone interested in learning how to knit. Participants will receive a small daily fee in lieu of what they might have been able to earn otherwise during training time. They will also get a bonus on successful completion of training. These stipends are where your funds will be used.

Sponsorship cost

You can sponsor a knitter-in-training for only $30US per participant.

Sponsor as many as you like! Every cent you contribute will go directly to the knitters to support them during the training period. We provide all materials, so no part of your sponsorship goes towards production costs.

About Cambodia Knits

Cambodia Knits was started in June 2009 with five knitters and is still in the early stages of its development. Our goal is to become a sustainable social enterprise, enabling women in poor and marginalized communities access to fair, flexible and rewarding employment. CK knitters produce quality hand knit toys, which we distribute for sale throughout Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, Cambodia.

We believe our model works for everyone involved:

· Knitters receive training before they begin to work for us and get continued support for skill development afterwards

· Knitters do not need to leave home to produce products, can work on their own schedules, and do not need to invest in materials

· Knitters will have a guaranteed market for the goods they produce, as CK will purchase these directly from them at fair rates

· Profits will fund expansion of the training program to more communities

We feel it’s important to pay learning knitters a training incentive to support them through the training period. Though we would love to provide these incentives ourselves, we’re not yet in a financial position to do so.

As we are not a charity or NGO, we’re not able to provide tax receipts for your donation. However, we’d be happy to provide information about the knitter you sponsor, including photos from the training period.

If you’re interested in sponsoring a knitter, or have any questions, please email monika@cambodiaknits.com.

Thank you for your support!

Monika